Kamal Nath front-runner for Leader of Opposition

Senior-most Congress MP Kamal Nath is expected to be nominated as Leader of Opposition, party sources said on Friday.

Kamal Nath is the "front-runner" for the post, the sources said.

"Going by seniority, Kamal Nath is number one (choice for the position)," a senior Congress MP said. However, he added that other factors may also be taken into account before the Congress parliamentary party chief makes the decision to nominate Leader of Opposition.

Kamal Nath is one of the senior-most MPs in the house along with Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party and PA Sangma of the National People's Party, all of whom have been elected to the Lok Sabha for the ninth time.

However, the Congress is dependent upon the discretion of the speaker for getting the status of the main opposition party. The party won only 44 seats out of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats, while a party needs to win at least 55 seats in order to be recognised the main opposition party status in the Lok Sabha.

However, the party has stated publicly this is not a legally binding requirement.